


Preemptive Strike

by TigStripe



Series: End of an Era [6]
Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Finn adventure, Gen, M/M, Mild Angst, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-07 01:39:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13423995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigStripe/pseuds/TigStripe
Summary: With the First Order thrown off-guard by Finn's presence on Canto Bight, General Organa proposes a plan to deal a major blow to the Order. This doesn't sit well with Poe, who makes his disapproval of the mission very apparent.





	1. Hatching the Plan

“Sorry I'm late,” Rey said, finding a place at the table in the command center. She sat down and brushed her hair out of her face as she brought the congregation to a stable six – General Organa, Admiral Orenza, Rey, Finn, Poe, and Poe's father Kes. “What did I miss?”

General Organa smiled. “Nothing, Rey, you're right on time.” She turned to her right to face Poe, her expression darkening. “Now then, Commander, I believe I told you that we have a situation on our hands.”

“You keep saying that, General, but you haven't told me what it is yet,” Poe replied with a concerned, tense posture.

“Thanks to Finn's actions on Canto Bight, we've been placed in a much higher state of preparedness for the First Order's eventual attack on Yavin,” Orenza explained. “But his actions also raised a red flag to the Order – Canto Bight is no longer as loyal as they had once been.”

Finn lowered his gaze for a moment, but looked up at the people surrounding the table with confidence. “I had the same concern,” he said, “but I don't think the Order will immediately retaliate. They're going to lick their wounds and likely launch an assault here _before_ taking out Canto Bight.”

“I thought the same thing,” Leia agreed, leaning forward. “That's the situation we find ourselves in. The Order is in a place of recuperation and indecision.”

“This may be the most vulnerable the Order will be for a long time,” Orenza said. “And it just so happens that our operatives have discovered the location of a major First Order shipyard. It appears to be one of the largest ship construction yards the Order has. After several long deliberations, the General and I have agreed that it is time to strike out at the Order, before they have time to make their decision and bear down on us with all of their considerable force.”

Underneath the table, Finn felt a hand on his knee. Poe's expression was stoic, focused on the discussion at hand, but his grip on Finn's leg told him that the pilot was nervous.

Kes put his hands on the table in front of him. “The citizens of Yavin are willing to defend the planet while your most elite fighter pilots take out the shipyard.”

“That's all well and good,” Rey said, “but I'm not one for military proceedings, especially when I'm not involved in them. I'm no fighter pilot. What does any of this have to do with me? Or Finn, for that matter?” Finn nodded. He wasn't a pilot. He couldn't even pilot a transport shuttle very well.

General Organa nodded. “That's where the plan gets tricky.”

Finn felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. Those words didn't sound promising.

“Not only is the target a shipyard,” Orenza said, “but we have reason to believe it also houses one of the most detailed histories of First Order ship movements in this part of the galaxy. The processing power being used at this station is immense – far more than would be necessary for a mere automated shipyard.”

“We need people in there,” Leia agreed. “If that's true, we need that information. We could have the location of almost every First Order cruiser in existence, as well as trajectories and mission details.”

Rey narrowed her eyes. “That sounds monumentally important. Do you really think we'll be able to just walk in and take that kind of information?”

Leia's eyes moved to Finn. He nodded.

“Yes, Rey. I do.”

“No.”

Everyone looked at Poe, who had slammed his hand on the table. Leia looked particularly startled.

“We can't do this,” Poe said. “It's suicide. There's no telling what kind of roster this shipyard has. We'd be flying in blind. As we all know, I'm all for jumping in an X-Wing and blowing something up, but we can't just throw a handful of people at the front door and expect it to work out.” His angry eyes scanned the faces of those at the table. “Remember the last time we did that? Four hundred Resistance members died that day.”

“Poe, it's okay,” Finn said, putting his hand on Poe's shoulder. “A small group of people can easily infiltrate the base during the raid. I can get us in, no problem.”

“How are you planning on doing that?” Poe snapped. “It would take a droid precious time to slice into a place like that.”

General Leia looked careful at Poe's face, growing concern visible in her eyes. “Commander, you would do well to remember what the people on this base are capable of,” she said. “Getting into the system won't be a problem. It's not an ecryption like the tracking beacon was.”

“So the plan?” Finn asked.

“Rose Tico will accompany you,” Leia replied. “Her slicing skills are the best we have available right now.”

Finn could tell Poe wanted to argue, but a sharp look from Leia stifled him. He fumed in silence as the meeting continued.

“So it's agreed,” Orenza said with some degree of finality. “Commander Dameron will lead an air strike against the shipyard while Captain Finn leads a small ground team into the facility to obtain as much information as they can. Meanwhile, in the event of some kind of counterattack for Canto Bight, the citizens of Yavin will be prepared for an assault from the Order.”

Everyone at the table except for Poe nodded their agreement. Poe was the first one to stand once Leia adjourned them, and he stormed out the door quickly.

“Finn,” Leia said, stopping Finn from following Poe. “I'd like to speak with you.”

Confused and a little concerned, Finn stayed behind as most everyone else left the command center. He approached the General. “Yes, General?”

Leia's eyes told Finn how concerned she truly was. “Talk to Poe. Talk him down. I fear he will do something drastic if left in the state he's in, and we can't afford that kind of impulsive behavior on this mission.”

Finn nodded. “I'll do what I can.”

“Please do,” Leia pleaded. “I can't stand to see Poe so upset. I believe I know why, but I think it best if you talk to him.”

Finn wondered what she meant by that. He merely nodded and headed out of the command center to find Poe.

 

It wasn't difficult to track Poe down. When he was upset, Finn usually would find him either tinkering on his X-Wing or sulking in his room. Today, it was the former.

As Finn approached the grounded fighter, BB-8 rolled up to him and beeped at him in a tone that Finn could only discern as “concerned.”

“Don't worry, BB-8,” Finn said, “I'll talk to him.”

BB-8's reply was slightly more optimistic-sounding than before. The droid rolled off, probably to find Ivee. Finn had heard about the two droids' little tryst. He thought it was cute.

Poe was in a maintenace-dedicated section of the airfield, with the normal ground level at his waist for better access to his fighter. He was up to his elbows in wiring and circuitry on the underbelly of his X-Wing when Finn approached with his hands awkwardly in his jacket pockets. Poe's face was smudged with grease already and his brow was furrowed in a mixture of anger and concentration.

Finn leaned down to get a look into the fighter's underside, where Poe's hands were rather forcibly rummaging around. “Still trying to get that coolant tube up into the right spot?” Finn asked.

“Cooling the wires around that area can ease conductivity in high stress,” Poe mumbled, not really paying attention.

“Ah.” Finn stood back up, saying nothing else, just appreciating how handy Poe was with his own fighter.

Finn heard a hard clink from inside the X-Wing and Poe's hands fell out of it, finding their way to his waist. “Why?” Poe asked, looking down at the ground.

“Why what?”

Poe still didn't look at Finn. “Why does it have to be you to lead this mission?” The question was quiet, but his voice remained filled with angry force.

Finn was confused. Wasn't Poe proud that Finn was such a useful part of the Resistance? “What do you mean?”

Poe shifted his weight and looked around, but his eyes never quite made it to Finn's face. As he talked, he gestured widely with his arms to help avoid making eye contact. “This mission is dangerous. Not only will they have an enormous number of starfighters available, we don't know what you'll run into inside the facility.” His gaze finally rested near the floor at Finn's feet. “I don't want you to go.”

Finn squatted down and found Poe's gaze with his own. His eyes were almost...sad. “Poe, it's okay. I'll have Rose and Rey with me, and probably a couple of veterans of the Resistance. We'll get this done. In and out. No problem.”

“You don't know that,” Poe countered, probably more forcefully than he'd intended. “What if stray fire from the dogfights hits the station? _I_ could be the one that accidentally blows you up. There are so many things that can go wrong with this.”

“So don't fire at the station,” Finn replied with a shrug and a grin. “Poe, I get that you're worried, but this is bigger than you or me. I have to go because I can help. I'm the most knowledgeable person in the Resistance when it comes to the First Order's protocol and system defenses. Rose wouldn't have a chance of slicing that place without me.”

Despite knowing this statement to be completely true, Poe shook his head. “It's too dangerous,” he said simply, picking up a tool and turning back to his X-Wing.

Finn stood up to his full height and looked down at Poe. His attitude seemed so out of place. There was definitely more to this argument Poe had against the mission. He took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms. “Poe, what's this really about?” he asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

Poe sighed loudly, irritated. “I don't want you to get hurt. That's all.”

“You're lying,” Finn said accusingly. “If that were the whole reason, you'd be willing to watch my back out there, while I _did my job._ What's really going on?”

Poe threw his tool back to his toolkit and turned to Finn, anger contorting his face. Even when he only came up to Finn's waist, he was an imposing figure. “Fine. I said it before, but this mission is a suicide run, and not just for you. It would be better to just blow up the whole station and not endanger our ground troops. I'm all for intelligence gathering, but at a place we're _actively shooting up_ seems like a stupid idea. We don't have the slicing skill necessary to do it in the time Leia seems to think we can. You'll take too long. We'll lose fighters up there waiting on you to get it done. They should have picked someone else for the mission.”

Finn raised his eyebrows. “So, what, you don't think I can do it? You think I'm not good enough for this mission? Am I not experienced enough for this or something?”

Poe averted his eyes. “I didn't say that,” he muttered, the anger gone from his voice.

Finn shook his head, anger tensing up in his neck. “No. You didn't have to. Just because I haven't been in the Resistance as long as you or Rose, you think I don't have the experience to pull off something like this. I'm just some rookie that got lucky all those times before.” Finn could feel his pulse quickening. He realized that being this upset wasn't good, but he was too angry to stop, now.

“Finn,” Poe started, but Finn cut him off.

“No. No, Poe. You need to learn to trust your people. I have more than made my place in this Resistance, and I will not be told I'm too inexperienced to be selected for a mission that, quite frankly, sounds pretty cut and dry to me.” Finn turned away from Poe. “I'm more ready for this than you think.” He started walking back to his room to prepare.

“Finn, wait!” Poe cried. He pulled himself up out of the ditch below his fighter and started to jog after Finn, but something stopped him. What was it? Was Finn _right?_ Did Poe really think so little of his time in the Resistance? It was true that Finn had only been on a handful of missions, but each one of them had been vastly important. _Did_ Poe think Finn wasn't good enough for this? Maybe that's why Poe had been such a wreck while Finn was off at Canto Bight – he really didn't think he would ever see him again.

But that's crazy talk – Finn was an amazing soldier. He was brave and selfless and willing to give it all to defeat the First Order.

 _Oh._ Realization hit Poe in the gut like a fathier had kicked him.

Rescuing Rey at Starkiller base. Fighting Kylo Ren with no training whatsoever with a lightsaber. Accepting the mission to Canto Bight. The battering ram cannon on Crait. Wanting to help Luke against Kylo Ren.

Poe realized then what truly scared him about this mission: Finn _was_ willing to give his life for the Resistance. He watched Finn walk off, his eyes wide. He'd been scared of losing Finn during the mission before, but now, Poe was _terrified_.

 


	2. Base Assault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn, Rose, and Rey infiltrate a First Order base for vital information while Poe leads a strike against the base's weapons manufacturing depot. Things go almost perfectly until the Order's reinforcements show up. Then Finn discovers something that could change _everything_ about the fight with the Resistance.

The shipyard was located on a small, forested world not far from Jakku, near the outskirts of the Unknown Regions. From orbit, it seemed inconspicuous enough, but Finn had a feeling there was more to this planet than they were being told. Standing beside him, Rey seemed nervous, as well. She really didn't seem to like the Order's attire she was being forced to wear. Finn didn't blame her, but it was hardly his first infiltration.

“We're in place,” Rose said into her comms device. “May the Force be with you, Black Squadron.”

“And to you guys,” Poe sounded. His voice was much quieter than usual. “Finn-”

“Initiating radio silence,” Finn interjected, turning off his device. The fire of anger Finn felt at Poe had not yet diminished, but that wasn't what caused the radio silence. It was part of the mission, to avoid detectable transmissions until they had the data they were searching for.

Rose gave Finn a sad look. “You do know he's sorry, right?” she asked.

“Focus,” Finn said flatly, choosing not to look at her and her unarguably empathic eyes. If Finn allowed himself to think about Poe, he would lose his concentration. “We're in the field now.”

_It's all about the mission._

The shuttle waited the designated period before turning planetside and gunning the engines, giving the starfighters enough time to start the distraction. The planet rushed up at the them and the shuttle started to shake from atmospheric entry, but Finn stared hard ahead. This was their chance to truly make the Order rethink this whole war.

A quick descent placed the trio deep in the woods, about a kilometer from the shipyard's command center. Rey led the way through the woods, her directional instincts honed from years traversing sand dunes that looked each exactly the same. Rose brought up the rear, and they managed to quickly find their way to the base.

Finn could see the battle from his hiding place – dozens of TIE fighters had scattered in response to the sudden approach of no less than twenty Resistance fighters. The signature X-Wing form was nowhere to be seen due to the drag it would cause in atmo. Finn couldn't tell which fighters belonged to which squadrons from here.

“I see two guards at this entrance,” Rose said, peeking around a particularly wide tree.

“Perfect,” Rey said with a sly grin. She made her way a little closer to the entrance, as per the plan. She reached out with the Force and took a hold of the guards at the entrance. With a flick of her wrist, the guards slammed forcefully into each other, then down to the ground. Finn winced as he saw their heads harshly contact the ground. They were both out cold in less than a second.

“Let's go,” Finn hissed. They dashed to the entrance and composed themselves before Finn went to work on the entry code.

On the third try, the door hissed open, revealing a wide hallway with windows looking out and up, allowing them full view of the battle overhead. No First Order personnel were visible. That made Finn nervous, but he understood why.

“They've been called to their battle stations,” Finn explained as the three of them stepped casually into the building. “It's going perfectly.”

“Are they monitoring the halls?” Rey asked.

“Probably, but I doubt they're focused on it with all the fighting outside,” Finn replied. “They're looking for anything out of the ordinary, not three officers walking briskly to their battle stations at the center of the base.”

“Sounds good,” Rose said. Just in case, she had her hand placed on her trusty taser stashed in her belt.

They made their way to the center of the base, seeing only a handful of First Order personnel, all of whom were completely preoccupied with the chaos above the base to care about three officers walking around. It wasn't until they turned down a hall marked “Command” that they encountered anyone who looked at them more than once.

“Halt.” A tall, pale officer stopped them before the control center door, his face stern. “You don't look familiar,” he said suspiciously.

“We were assigned here just this morning and our shuttle touched down right as those Resistance bastards attacked,” Finn explained. “We don't have our official assignments yet, so we thought to come to the command center for our orders, especially with what's going on outside.”

The fib seemed to take hold. “I wasn't aware that we were receiving any new officers to the station,” the Order officer replied thoughtfully. “But it's not unexpected. You're just early, that's all. Since you don't have any official orders, head inside and help direct the TIE fleet. There are radar specialist stations along the wall.” The officer pressed his palm against the wall, and the door to the command center hissed open.

“Thank you, sir,” Finn said.

“Long live the Supreme Leader,” the officer said with a salute.

“And may he reign with total supremacy,” Finn replied automatically, returning the salute. For just a second there, Finn was embarrassed that it was such an automatic response, but the officer nodded, allowing them passage.

When the door closed behind them, they split up. Finn and Rey each made their way to the specialist stations on the wall, only with a different intent than the other Order members present. Rose, however, found her way to a primary control console. No one seemed to mind her interfacing with the primary computer, as they were all too busy directing the fleet outside. Only a single officer was supervising the situation, and even he seemed unconcerned with Rose's presence.

Finn put a headset on and started tinkering with the system in front of him. When he realized just what systems he was looking at, he grinned. His fingers flew across the interface, and suddenly every specialist in the room shouted and groaned. Finn tried his best to hide his smile – he had just disabled every First Order radar system on the base, including those onboard the TIE fighters. They were flying completely blind, now.

 _That should help the others,_ Finn thought to himself.

“Get those systems back online!”

“I can't see anything!”

“They're sitting ducks out there!”

The First Order officers started panicking. Only three faces in the room didn't show such concern. The sounds of a multitude of explosions reverberated throughout the facility as the X-Wings picked up on the sudden lack of battlefield insight the TIE pilots had.

“Evacuate!” The lead officer ordered. The First Order personnel surged for the door. When he noticed Finn hadn't budged yet, he cried, “Did you not hear me? Get out of here!”

“This station is too important to evacuate, sir,” Finn replied, faking a furious typing on his systems board. “I'll die before I give those Resistance curs the satisfaction of seeing me run!”

“Good man,” the offier replied. He saluted Finn and dashed out the door, leaving Rose and Rey as the only other officers remaining in the room.

After a moment, the door hissed open again, revealing the guardsman from outside. With but a glance, Finn acquired his location, lifted a previously concealed blaster, and shot the guard in the chest. He moved the body out of the doorway and approached Rose at the main console.

“Did you find anything yet?” he asked.

Rose's hands were wildly maneuvering the First Order system. “Yes and no,” she muttered. “There's definitely some big stuff here, but most of it is scattered around in small mission files. It'll take some time to download it all.”

“Well, get to it if you haven't,” Finn said. Rose nodded. Finn reached up and turned his comms device on. “Commander, we're in control of the main control room.”

“Great job down there.” Poe's voice couldn't hide his grin. “I don't know what you did, buddy, but these TIEs stopped being a problem. We're beginning our final runs on the production facility.”

“The data's going to take some time to download,” Finn informed him. “Can you keep them busy? We're safe down here. This wing of the facility is evacuated.”

“Sure thing. Blue Squadron, break off from from the production lines and hit up the communications array. Keep the ground troops guessing.”

“I'll let you know when we have all the data,” Finn said.

“Quick _and_ efficient,” Poe replied, admiration seeping through the comms.

“Yeah, it's almost like _I know what I'm doing_ ,” Finn snapped. He turned his comms device off before Poe could say anything. Rose just sighed and shook her head.

Rey moved to the doorway and readied her handblaster in case someone came through it again. Finn started looking through various data files on the main console while Rose automatically downloaded it all. At his fingertips, Finn had station locations, personnel files, even contact lists for weapons vending and medical supplies. There was a list of other production facilities, as well. That was a particularly nice find.

There was a list of “trainee acquisition camps,” as well. Finn shook his head, refusing to get worked up over the prospect of even more children being abducted from their homes for the Order. He moved away from that file and found one labeled “Test Site Zero.” Intrigued, he opened the file.

The file detailed the planet they currently stood on, with the production hangar listed, as well as a few other nuggets of info about the planet. Within that file, however, there was another file labeled “Test Site Zero.” Now more confused than intrigued, Finn accessed the file.

“We're almost done,” Rose said.

The building shook, causing all three of them to steady themselves on nearby equipment. “Tch. They're getting carried away,” Finn muttered.

“Commander, what's your status?” Rose asked.

“Bad news,” Poe replied. “They've got reinforcements. It looks like there's a cruiser in orbit, and its TIEs aren't bound to this station's systems.”

Rey crossed her arms. “It took them long enough to react to a distress call from a base this important,” she said.

That _did_ seem a little suspect to Finn. He continued reading the “Test Site Zero” file. When his eyes hit the third line, his heart stopped. He couldn't breathe.

“N-No,” Finn whispered, taking a step back from the console.

“Finn?” Rose watched Finn's slow retreat with concern, then approached his console to see what he'd read. After a moment, her hands clasped to her mouth and she shook her head.

“What is wrong with you two?” Rey asked.

“Their plan for taking out the Resistance on Yavin,” Finn said, still hardly able to swallow. “It's all right here.”

“What's their plan?” Rey was becoming impatient with the dramatic responses.

“This world,” Rose said, looking over at Rey with tears in her eyes. “This world is slated to become a second Starkiller base. It's almost finished. The only thing left to construct is the cannon's firing port.”

“That's impossible,” Rey said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “The planet didn't even have any scarring like the first one.”

“It looks like they've reworked the technology,” Rose replied quietly. “The planet just has to hold the cannon. It won't even look any different, other than the cannon itself.”

“The cannon is mostly complete, on the far side of the planet,” Finn added. “It could be operational within four days, according to this report.”

“ _Four days?_ That can't be,” Rey gasped. She rushed over to the console and read the file. As her eyes darted back and forth, they narrowed more and more. Angrily, she pushed herself away from the console. “What _is it_ with these guys? Destroying the entire Republic's home system wasn't enough? They're gonna blow up Yavin's entire system, too?”

Rose read further into the report. “It's worse than that,” she said, her voice thick with rage. “They aren't planning on blowing upYavin IV. _Just Yavin_.”

Rey whipped her head around to look at Rose in astonishment. “If they do that,” she began, but she couldn't finish the thought.

Finn nodded. “The moons will be thrown all over the system. It won't be a quick death like Hosnian Prime. Radical shifts in gravity and temperature, tectonic disturbances, meteorfall from Yavin itself. It would be impossible to survive, but wouldn't be instant destruction, especially with a planetary defense grid in place.” He sighed. “They want the Resistance to suffer.”

“This is awful,” Rose whimpered.

“I agree. Let's get the data and get out of here,” Finn said. He palmed his comms device. “Commander, what's your status?”

“We're taking a beating out here,” Poe said, a little distracted. “You guys have that data yet, pal?”

Rose nodded. “We've got it, Commander,” she said. “We're extracting to the shuttle.”

“We'll cover your exit vector,” Poe replied. “Get there _fast_. I don't know how much more of this we can take.”

“Let's go,” Finn ordered. Rey and Rose nodded, and the three of them rushed out of the command center.

As they rushed down the corridor leading to the exit, Finn looked out one of the windows facing upward, toward the battle. It was utter chaos – there were far more TIEs in the air now than before, despite the Resistance's success at bringing down the weapons depot planetside. X-Wings shot across the sky, both pursuing and being pursued by TIE fighters. Finn could scarcely keep track of it all.

Finn had left his comms unit on. He heard the cries of the fighter pilots. One went silent. Two went silent. Poe was barking commands left and right.

And then he _stopped_.

Finn's heart froze as an X-Wing directly over the window detonated in a blaze of glory, destroyed by an onslaught of TIE fighter fire. It was so difficult to tell the X-Wings apart when they were all hand-me-downs, so Finn couldn't tell what squad that one had belonged to. A piece of the starfighter tumbled through the air and smashed through the window overhead. It wasn't a danger to Finn, who had stopped running to watch the explosion, but it was still a cause for alarm. It slammed into the ground, just a scarred and scorched chunk of an X-Wing, almost directly at Finn's feet.

On the side, scribbled in spray paint, as plainly visible as if someone were shining a spotlight on them, were the initials “BL.”

Finn could no longer breathe. He knew what those letters stood for.

_Black Leader._

 


	3. Inner Struggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faced with the worst situation possible, Finn must find the strength to carry out his mission with the Resistance.

_No._

_No, no._

_NO, NO, NO._

Finn's knees hit the ground as he stared at the chunk of metal in front of him. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't blink. He couldn't hear anything. All he could see were those two letters, smoking on the ground before him.

 _This can't be happening._ _I was so angry. Why? I don't...why was I mad? I couldn't even say I'm sorry._

Finn felt hands on his arms, pulling him upwards, but he didn't move with them. _I can't go. I belong with him. I'm not worth this._ There was shouting in the background of a dense silence. _Yelling won't bring him back. It won't save us. It won't save him._

_Go away._

_Go_ away _!_

“ _Go away!_ ” Finn screamed.

Suddenly –

Finn jerked his head to the side, his cheek stinging. His eyes refocused and his hand raised up to his face. He looked up at the person in front of him to see an angry Rey standing over him, her arm raised with an open palm.

“I'll do it again,” she cried, her eyes glistening with tears. “Get the kriff _up,_ Finn!”

“No-” Finn couldn't say anything else. Rey and Rose pulled Finn to his feet. They helped him step over the now-gaping hole in his chest and ran with him down the hallway. His feet were moving completley on their own at this point, and his eyes were barely focused on what was happening. All he could see in his mind was the explosion overhead, and all he could hear was the comms silence right beforehand.

_Why didn't they just leave me there?_

They made it outside and started toward their shuttle, narly a kilometer away. Finn found himself tripping over roots and rocks he hadn't noticed on the way in, drastically slowing his escape. The other two tried to help him whenever they could.

“Come in, Black Leader,” Jess's voice sounded over the comms.

_You're wasting your breath, Jess. Poe is gone._

“He's gone,” Rey replied with a slight sob. “We saw his fighter explode.”

_And now it feels like there's no point to this fight. What good is a Resistance that can't protect the things it loves?_

“No,” Jess argued. “I saw him eject. He and BB-8 threw the fighter at a squad of TIEs as a distraction.”

Finn blinked. _What?_

“Did it work?” Rose asked.

“We took out every single one of those bastards that blew up his ship,” Jess replied. “But I think he's stuck in the facility. Probably pinned somewhere he can't talk.”

 _He's...alive? Maybe. Maybe they shot him when he landed. He could still be dead. But if there's even a_ chance _he's alive..._

Finn felt the lump on his sternum, the silver ring on the chain around his neck, and a subtle warmth began to spread out from his chest. He stood up straight, the warmth spreading throughout his whole body in a matter of seconds. He turned back to the facility and calmly started jogging forward.

“Finn, no!” Rose cried. “You can't go back in there!”

Finn stopped, turned to Rose, his eyes sad, but focused. “I have to save the things I love,” he whispered. “We won't win by destroying what we hate, remember?” He gave Rose a sad smile. “I have to see. I have to _try_.” He turned back to the base and continued his return.

“Rose, get back to the shuttle,” Rey said. “We'll signal you when we find Poe, and you can come pick us up.”

She hesitated, but Rose nodded. She turned on the spot and dashed into the forest, her legs carrying her short little frame as quickly as they could. Rey turned to follow Finn, her lightsaber in her hand.

Rey and Finn made it back to the base without incident, and proceeded toward the manufacturing depot. They passed several First Order personnel trying to flee, but Finn wasn't interested in them. He calmly walked through the base, shaking and sparking like an earthquake was ripping it apart, his mind set on one thing.

They passed the command center corrider and approached the weapons depot. Finn drew his blaster, but Rey stopped him. Confused, Finn followed her gaze.

BB-8 was rocketing down the hallway, beeping wildly, its retractable arm whipping around and smacking nearby First Order personnel as they attempted to apprehend it. It was headed straight for Rey and Finn.

“BB-8!” Finn cried, smiling for the first time since the commander center. His smile disappeared when he realized BB-8 was being chased. “He's with us,” he called, and the First Order troops stopped their pursuit.

BB-8 rolled to a stop at Rey's foot and beeped and whined at her rapidly. Finn watched Rey's expression carefully – BB-8 was too panicked to be nuanced enough for Finn to follow along. Rey listened intently, her brow tightening the longer BB-8 chirped at her.

When it finished, Finn finally asked, “Well?”

Rey was definitely concerned when she looked up at Finn. He felt his chest tighten. “Poe and BB-8 landed near the communication array. Poe was pinned down by TIE fighters, but BB-8 managed to wheel in here.”

“So Poe's okay?” Finn demanded of the droid.

“It's more complicated than that,” Rey replied. “BB-8 looked back in time to see a 'black figure' approach Poe. Poe tried to fight back, but a _lightsaber_ deflected his blaster shots.”

Finn shook his head. “No, it couldn't be-”

“It's not Kylo Ren,” Rey replied reassuringly. “I'd be able to sense him from orbit after the connection we had on the _Supremacy_. It's likely one of the Knights of Ren.”

“Take me to where you saw Poe last, BB-8,” Finn instructed. The droid whooped in reply and started rolling the way it came, with Finn in hot pursuit.

“Finn, wait!” Rey cried. She dashed after him, unaware if Finn realized how unlikely it was that they would still be there.

“Can't wait, Rey, I have to try,” Finn called back.

_He's still alive. He's still out there. We can save him._

The words kept rolling through his mind as Finn charged down the corridor behind BB-8. The droid led him past several First Order officers and a few Stormtroopers, none of which seemed terribly concerned about his rush, or the droid he was chasing. In fact, even in his slight panic, Finn found it unusual.

“Reinforcements are here,” Jess said over comms. “Our remaining squadrons have engaged the cruiser in low orbit. Several TIEs are pulling up to defend.”

“ _Take 'em out, boys!_ ” Snap shouted, clearly enjoying their new situation.

BB-8 stopped at a doorway leading out to the array. Finn peeked outside through a window. The array itself was completely destroyed, with bits and pieces of building scattered all around. There was no sign of any foot soldiers, Resistance or otherwise, in sight.

Finn opened the door and made his way out to the courtyard separating the main facility from the communication array. BB-8 trailed behind him, and soon Rey joined him. They took cover from the still ongoing chaos overhead behind some scaffolding, looking around for any clues as to Poe's whereabouts.

BB-8 was the first one to notice anything. It whirred at Finn and sped out into the open. It stopped short of a Resistance pilot's helm lying on its back, near a wall of the array structure. Finn picked up the helmet and ducked back into cover with it.

The helmet wasn't damaged beyond some scuffing and dirt. It looked like Poe had tried to tussle with the Force user before being overwhelmed.

“Why wouldn't they kill him?” Rey pondered. Finn shot her a dirty look, but she shrugged. “Look, I don't mean to be blunt, but Poe's not exactly a high priority target anymore. He's a high ranking officer of the Resistance, but _that's it._ It's not like he's got information on Luke Skywalker or anything.”

Finn considered this. “But he _does_.”

“Come again?”

“At Crait,” Finn said. “Luke projected himself there. You felt him die, and Kylo Ren may have felt him die, but that doesn't mean he's told the entire First Order that Luke's gone.”

Rey's eyes widened in shock. “You're right. To the average Joe in the Order, they're still looking for Luke's whereabouts. Ben's not the kind to think things through enough to tell the entire Order he's dead, just to stop looking for him. The Knight of Ren probably took Poe prisoner to try to gain some favor with the new 'Supreme Leader.' He doesn't know Poe's not all that useful to them anymore.”

“Those words would kill Poe,” Finn said with a smirk. Rey smiled.

“Rose?” Rey said into her comms. “We're at the smashed up communications array. Can you get here?”

“Shouldn't be a problem,” Rose replied. “The TIEs are thinning out thanks to the bombing squad in orbit. Everyone's out though, right?”

“Long story,” Finn replied. “But for now, let's just get out of here.”

Rey suddenly turned back toward the main facility building, her lightsaber igniting in her grasp. Finn ducked down as blaster fire ricocheted off of the young Jedi's blade. Aiming back at the main building, Finn saw two Stormtroopers charging forward with a dark robed figure behind them.

“It's one of the Knights,” Rey whispered, readying her blade. “I'll handle this. You get out of here when Rose shows up.”

“Like hell,” Finn replied, squeezing the trigger on his blaster in two quick shots. The bolts slammed into the Stormtroopers' chests, felling them both easily. Only the dark Jedi remained. Finn fired a few more blaster shots at him as he approached, but the red lightsaber in his hands deflected them without issue.

“This isn't the one I faced before,” Rey said. “Stay back. I don't know what they're capable of.”

“If you're looking for your friend, he's already on his way to the Supreme Leader,” the Jedi said, his voice garbled by his Ren mask. “I'm sure Lord Kylo will be pleased.”

“If you say so,” Rey replied. She dashed forward and struck with her lightsaber, clashing fiercely with the Knight's. Finn watched in a mixture of awe, fear, and frustration, unable to contribute much to the struggle. He aimed a blaster shot while the dark Jedi was preoccupied, but found his finger unwilling to pull the trigger, in case Rey got in the way somehow.

“You're quite the legend,” the Knight sneered at Rey as they pressed on each other's blades. “It's an honor to duel you. Really.”

“Is that so?” Rey answered angrily. “I'm sorry, but I haven't the faintest idea who you are. So I can't say the same.”

“Mavo Ren. Lord Kylo's second-in-command within the Knights,” the dark Jedi replied. “And with good reason.” He lifted a boot and lodged Rey away from him. As soon as Rey was clear, Finn opened fire, but each shot was deflected with ease. Rey stood back up and readied herself for another attack.

 _He's good,_ Finn thought. _We can't take him like this._ Finn made a break for a better position to fire on the Knight, but suddenly found himself struggling to breathe. His feet left the ground and he could feel gravity pulling his full weight away from his head.

“Stop!” Rey cried. She lashed out with the Force, causing Mavo to stagger backwards, his concentration broken. Finn fell to his knees, gasping for air.

Just then: “He's in my sights.” An X-Wing strafed the building, leading up from the courtyard. The laser fire blasted the ground underneath Mavo Ren, sending the Jedi flying back into the building's outer wall. More strafing from additional X-Wings detonated the building's ceiling, caving in most of its hallways in a chain reaction of engineering fallout. The base was totaled.

A shuttle floated nearby and opened its door without touching down. “Let's go!” Rose shouted from within.

Finn, BB-8, and Rey launched themselves up onto the shuttle. Rose closed the door and punched the thrusters, aiming the shuttle away from the base along the ground for several kilometers before finally lifting up into the atmosphere. As they pulled away from the base, Finn watched in horror as Mavo Ren stood up and dusted himself off from the strafing run.

“Those Ren guys are insane,” Finn whispered, staring at the collapsing base as the shuttle escaped.

“How's the cruiser fight?” Rose asked, her hand on her comms device.

“It's crippled. A couple old Y-Wings with EMP blasters still pack a punch,” Karé replied. “You should be cleared, Rose. They're retreating.”

“And the situation on the far side of the planet?” Rose asked.

“That's what took the bombers so long,” Jess replied. “The base on the far side has been destroyed, too. They really weren't expecting us to know about that one. There was barely any resistance there.”

Rey grinned. “That's great!” She hugged Finn, who hugged her back, but he couldn't find it in him to smile. Rey noticed this, her smile fading into concern. “Don't worry, Finn. We'll get him back.”

Finn just nodded.

 

“I'm more than an attachment to Poe,” Finn said quietly. “I am more than just someone's boyfriend. I'm a member of this Resistance, too.”

The surviving pilots had met up with Rose, Rey, and Finn on a small Resistance cruiser they'd named the _Assurance,_ donated to the Resistance by one of their new Canto Bight connections. Finn suspected it was Babal's doing. It staffed almost two hundred people, although it was operating on a skeleton crew of fifteen for this mission. They had gathered for a remote debriefing with General Organa, but they had not established a connection with the Yavin base yet. While they waited, everyone discussed the circumstances surrounding Poe's kidnapping.

“Who the hell are you trying to convince, kid?” Snap asked, his arms crossed. “You're a hero. You made Captain on your own merits.”

“But it feels like everything I do has something to do with Poe,” Finn muttered. “He even gave me my name.”

“Join the club,” Jess said, slapping Finn on the shoulder. “Just because you're part of his posse doesn't mean you're not _you._ ”

“You have your own reasons for fighting this war,” Snap said. “You found it before we settled on Yavin.”

Finn nodded, although he still didn't feel quite sure that was the case anymore. With the silver ring in his open palm, all Finn could think about now was saving Poe, not defending the future of the free galaxy.

“But just because you're your own person, and have your own reason to fight,” Snap continued, “doesn't mean you're not allowed to freak out when your love gets kidnapped or goes MIA.”

“I wouldn't have fought so hard if it had been someone else,” Finn admitted. “I know that.”

“So?” Karé asked. “You're allowed to be motivated for certain people's sake.”

Rey held Finn's hand as they sat there. “We're not going back to Yavin,” she said. “We're going find Poe, and we're going to bring him home.”

Finn nodded, unable to look anyone directly in the eye.

“The good news is that we know what cruiser that was in orbit, and we also know where Kylo Ren's flagship is located,” Rose piped in with a grin. “All we have to do is follow them and take Poe back.”

“It's a fool's game, but we can't just leave our field commander out to dry,” another pilot said.

The image of General Organa appeared in a hologram in the center of the room. It didn't take Finn long to notice that she had been crying.

“We'll hold off on your debriefing until you get the Commander back,” Leia said with authority. “Take the _Assurance_ and lead the assault, Captain.”

Finn stood to his feet and saluted the General. “We'll bring him home, General.”

Leia nodded. “May the Force be with us all.”

Finn turned to Rose. “Rose. Get the navigation team those coordinates. Everyone else, take a break, ready your fighters, and be prepped for battle. This is going to be hell.”

“What about me, Captain?” Rey asked with a sly grin.

Finn grinned back. “We're gonna go visit an old 'friend' of yours.”

 


End file.
